Devouring A Bowl of Tarif

Colonized by multiple countries, Philippines has been exposed to diferent cultures with diferent
dishes making the Philippine a good lovers' paradise because of its richness in culinary cuisines from
chicken adobo to porridge. But behind the glamorous dishes, there are simple ingredients collected by
silent heroes-Heroes that haven't been treated with respect they deserve.

Rice contributes to the country's Gross Value Added(GVA) by 25 percent and is consumed by every
Filipino. Having 2.5 million individuals that function to produce rice, every province in the country has a
steady supply of rice. The country also allows the importation of rice in order to have a steady supply for
the people and to avoid any rice shortages.

The Rice Tariffication Act is an act to remove the limit of how much rice can be imported in the country.
This caused the large amounts of imported rice to be sold throughout the Philippines, undermining the
locally grown rice produced by our farmers. I believe that the Rice Tariffication Act is causing a problem
with the agriculture sector of the country and should be abolished.

About 2.2 million pesos worth of rice grain had been imported in the country in 2018 while the local
farmers struggled to compete with their foreign competitors. One dozens of farmers have died due to
fatigue this year in earning enough income to support themselves and their family. Yet, Filipinos
continued wasting 300,000 tons of rice according to the research survey.

The Price of rice in the Philippines has increased which burdens the farmers even more. A 25 percent
increase in price of rice causes seven to ten percent drop of income to 30% of the poor, making living
even harder.

The act was proposed to prevent a rice shortage but that was before when the country cannot support
itself. But now, the Philippines is capable of producing enough rice to accommodate the needs of the
people if given the support that the agriculture sector needs.

The local farmers in the country have little hope in competing with the thousands of imports delivered to
the country. Thus, the government should take an immediate action about it. Agencies should then
abolish the act if necessary because what we, people really aim here is to protect these heroes of our
country. I believe that our government should focus on this matter because behind all of this, our
farmers were the ones being afected-Our silent heroes that stays humble amidst backbreaking jobs.